Middle to Good Student... chance me at some top schools? (and some others)

<p>Hey Everyone! I'm trying to narrow down my college list and it would be helpful if I could "my colleges" into categories like reaches, good fits and safeties. There are a few that are obvious reaches and safeties but there are a few on my prospective college list that are more difficult for me to categorize. Help? :)</p>

<p>GPA
3.826</p>

<p>SAT
CR- 670
M- 680
W- 720
(1350/2070)</p>

<p>ACT
E- 35
M- 31
R- 30
S- 28
C- 31</p>

<p>(I plan to retake both tests, and as of now, I'll JUST BE SENDING IN THE ACT)</p>

<p>ECs, Awards, Volunteer stuff, etc:
Golf: co-captain sophomore through senior year
NHS
Several leadership positions around school
SADD member
Lots of volunteer work
Same job since freshman year at a tennis place--I play tennis as well, but my school does not have a team
Internship with insurance company... work for them over the summer
There's a bunch more... but I think you get the picture and no need to go too much into detail</p>

<p>*Oh, and I'm going in undecided but leaning towards the humanities (history, english, psych... not sure yet)</p>

<p>Schools:
UPenn (ED)
Cornell
Tufts
Skidmore
Colgate
University of Vermont
Middlebury
Bucknell
Johns Hopkins
Union (Schenectady)
Brandeis
Carnegie Mellon
Boston College
Villanova
Gettysburg</p>

<p>Thanks so much in advance! I'll chance back if you'd like.</p>

<p>Please? Oh, also I have a legacy at Penn and Bucknell… and I have grandparents who went to Cornell and CMU (I don’t know the legacy policies there though)</p>

<p>Your chance at UPenn and Cornell is slim to none. Pretty decent chance at other school</p>

<p>Middle to Good Student don’t get into Ivy League. YOu’re showing diffidence</p>

<p>Thanks for the opinions. I realize that my chances are very slim at schools like Penn and Cornell. However, I really love both of those schools and even if chances are that I’ll be wasting some money and energy because I likely won’t get in, I know I’d regret not applying later on. For all I know when the admissions officers read my application they will be in a very good mood or something in my essay will strike them. Even if I know those schools are reaches, I don’t want to kick myself later and wonder what if… I just hope that ED and legacy will help me out a bit.</p>

<p>BUT, no one really helped answer my question. Could someone help me divide up which schools are reaches, fits, safeties. A few, like Cornell, Penn, Tufts etc. are obvious reaches while others like University of Vermont may be obvious safeties. What about the others?</p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

<p>Oh… I forgot to add. I am taking the most difficult courses at my school. I have the hardest course load of any student in my grade and I am well within the top 5% of students. One rec should be pretty good but probably not outstanding and the other one should really stand out because the teacher and I are very close and have known each other all throughout my high school career. The 3.83 GPA is unweighted obviously too… out of 4.</p>

<p>Penn (ED): Middle to high reach
Penn (If not ED): High reach
Cornell: Middle to high reach
Johns Hopkins: Middle reach</p>

<p>Thanks silverturtle… anyone have any ideas about some of the other schools on my list? I’d really appreciate it.</p>

<p>Anyone else have any input for me? :)</p>

<p>Can anyone comment on my chances at
Skidmore
Colgate
Middlebury
Bucknell
Johns Hopkins
Union (Schenectady)
Brandeis
Carnegie Mellon
Boston College
Villanova
Gettysburg</p>

<p>It is these schools mostly where I don’t know where I stand.</p>

<p>bump… ?</p>

<p>Depending on how good your leadership was at your school could make a difference. JH and CM are really the onlyschools I am familiar with and JH is mid reach and CM is a low reach. Chance me back please!!!</p>

<p>Thanks!.. I’ll chance you back now. My leadership is pretty good. I run a few groups at school and have a few important elected positions at schools. I’m also captain of a sports team, though I’m sure many other applicants are too. </p>

<p>Anyone else?</p>

<p>What’s your rank? What state are you from?</p>

<p>My rank is somewhere between 5-11 out of a little over 200. So top 2.5-5.5%… I’ll know for sure in a few weeks, though. This is basing it on my rank last year and giving myself a little leeway.</p>

<p>If you can up one of the tests to high 2100s/33, you should have a shot at all.</p>

<p>Thanks… I’m working on it. I plan to use the ACT rather than the SAT and I am improving on all of my sections except for the science section. </p>

<p>Does anyone else have this problem? I can get 35-36 english, 33ish reading, 34ish math and then upper 20s science. It’s really frustrating. If I could get a similar science score I could potentially get a 34… but timing is just such an issue for me.</p>